by Bel Eve Forver

Created on: May 25, 2007   Last Updated: August 05, 2011

Tie-dye crafts are excellent for teaching kids how layering colors can make new color as well as teaching them about cause and effect.

To tie-dye fabric, you will need lots of rubber bands and a nice clear area to lay out the fabric while it dries. I have used a driveway, picnic table and even the grass if it hasn't been mowed recently.

The dye used in tie-dyeing usually needs hot water, the closer to boiling the better and with young children this can be a hazard. There are lots of dyes out there from food coloring to the permanent Rit dyes, or you can use natural dyes like smashed cherries, saffron, or even grass. You can even use food powders like Kool-Aid, Jell-O, or ice tea mix. Whatever you use to dye your fabric make depends on how long you want the color to last and how the fabric will be used. For example, a white baseball cap dyed in Kool-Aid will probably always leave stain behind if the wearer is sweating.

There are many website on dyes but Rit has one of the best for color combinations and how much of each color is needed to get the desired effect. Again, Rit is only one choice in dyes: RIT color chart - http://www.ritdye.com/Create+Custom+Color.9.lasso

The Technique:

For young children, have a washed white t-shirt and ask them to point to a spot where the want some color. Pull up that spot wrap a rubber band around it tight and then ask for another spot. For each mountain' you are building you are creating a tie-dye splotch. If you keep all the loops of the rubber bands close together you create a white ring where the dye doesn't get through. If you spiral the loops, some higher on the mountain' you create light colored rings where dye might get through or might not. You can also tightly tie a sandwich bag around the tip of the mountain' to create a white center. You can do the front and the back of the t shirt in the same rubber band or have different spots front and back. You can also tuck in the tip of the mountain, making a 'donut' for a different effect. Warning: if you are dyeing a t-shirt and it is for a little girl, please put the shirt on her so you don't accidentally give her bosom circle.

Once there are enough mountains, you can start dyeing. For this, you can have many pots of color simmering on the stove and ask which mountain' should be which color. If you start with the light colors, you can then add the darker colors. Ask for example which mountain should be yellow? Remember dip the cloth into the dye so the rubber band is submerged or you won't get the ring effect. Let the shirt rest a bit after doing a few colors the will help the dye to set in. After a few minutes rinse until the water runs mostly clear.

Once all the primary colors are done, you can add more rubber bands colors or take off rubber bands to existing mountains' and dip the shirt in other colors. This will give you a chance to point out how colors when blended together change: yellow and blue make green and all that.

For older children, show them that circles are just one way to tie-dye. Fabric can be twisted, accordion folded, folded in half, or banded in a mountain and then twisted, folded back on itself and banded again for a different effect.
If the children want they can fold, band a dye and then try a different tie and dye it again.

Remind then though what happens when you have too many colors a dingy kind of muddy black has been my experience.

Remember when the dyeing is done to rinse thoroughly and dry to set the colors. If the day is hot enough, you can rinse the fabric with a hose, this time make sure the water runs completely clear and dry in the sun or dryer.

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